Our earthly life is short and frail before the face of the eternal God. He is our refuge and can give meaning to our existence. Let us ask him to fill it with wisdom, which is to love him, praise him and serve him.
1Lord, you have been our refuge through all generations.
2Before the mountains were formed, before you made the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity – you are God.
3You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, O mortals!”
4A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.
5You sow them in their time, at dawn they peep out. 6In the morning they blossom, but the flower fades and withers in the evening.
7Your fury consumes us like fire, and we are helpless before your anger.
8Our evils lie before you who scrutinize our hidden sins.
9Our days pass away in your wrath; our years are gone in no time.
10Seventy years to our life or eighty if we are strong, yet most of them are sorrow and trouble; speeding by, they sweep us along.
11Who knows the extent of your anger? Who has seen the end of your wrath?
12So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart.
13How long will you be angry, O Lord? Have mercy on your servant.
14Fill us at daybreak with your goodness, that we may be glad all our days.
15Make joy endure as the misery did, and the years in which we were afflicted.
16Let your work be seen by your servants and your glorious power by their children.
17May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us; may he prosper the work of our hands.
